


Rules (are made to be broken)

by dishonestdreams



Series: Fifteen Minute Scribbles [5]
Category: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Choking, M/M, Manhandling, Power Imbalance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 11:56:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18992176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dishonestdreams/pseuds/dishonestdreams
Summary: In which Ben breaks a rule and Hansel's not all that happy about it.





	Rules (are made to be broken)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MistressKat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressKat/gifts), [pushkin666](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pushkin666/gifts).



> A fifteen minute (ahem) fic for the prompt _Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, business_
> 
> Nowhere near as risque as the tags make it sound. Slashy in my head, but could be read as gen if that suits your mileage better

The camp was dark by the time Ben got back, and that more than anything should have been ample warning. Hansel has one rule when they’re camping - everyone’s back before the fire gets banked - and Ben _knows_ that. It wasn’t even that he’d intended to stay out as long as he had, but there had been some talk in the village tavern about a situation three towns over that had sounded like it might be exactly their kind of work, and he hadn’t felt able to ignore the possible lead.

It wasn’t his fault that the man holding all the information had been more than a little tight-lipped, especially once he had realised Ben was interested. He had needed to dig a little deeper into their supplies money than he’d been intending in order to loosen the man’s tongue, and the whole process had taken markedly longer than planned. Hopefully it had been worth it; at least for now it sounded like it might be a profitable excursion and it was certainly better than anything else they had lined up.

The only problem was that now he was late.

He slipped back into the camp as quietly as he could. Edward was clearly asleep, a hulking shadow in the dark that Ben might have mistaken for a rock except that he was fairly certain rocks didn’t snore like that. On the other side of the fire, he could see Gretel, her hair fanned out across the pack she was using as a pillow and her eyes closed, although Ben knew better than most that that didn’t _necessarily_ mean she was sleeping. He flushed hot at the memory and dragged his gaze away quickly. It took him a moment to spot his own bedroll, still wrapped for travel and stacked against their other packs, behind the shadowed lump that he guessed was Hansel. Hansel wasn’t keen on being too close to the fire, and of the four of them, he tended to be the one to settle himself just that little bit further away from its light.

Ben never said anything. It wasn’t his place to ask, and it _certainly_ wasn’t his place to judge. Right now at least, all he wanted to do was grab his own pack, claim his own place by the fire, and settle in for the night and he picked his way carefully across the camp in his best attempt not to disturb any of his sleeping companions.

He was entirely unprepared for the hand that wrapped itself round his ankle as he passed by Hansel’s bedroll and he barely had time to register the touch, let alone respond, before he was yanked down hard. He yelped, once, before he landed hard on the dirt and then the shadow next to him shifted into something painfully familiar as Hansel rolled over to pin him down on the ground, his forearm pressed tight enough against Ben’s throat to make breathing more than a little difficult.

Somewhere behind Ben’s head, Edward grunted, and in his peripheral vision he saw a flicker of movement that might be Gretel. Hansel quirked an eyebrow at him and Ben swallowed against the press of Hansel’s arm.

“Everything’s fine,” Hansel said, not breaking eye contact, his voice sleep-rough and rusty but calm as Ben had ever heard him. “Ben and I are going to have a conversation about his timekeeping. Everyone else can just go back to sleep.”

Edward just grunted again; quite content, it appeared, to take Hansel at his word, but from the other side of the fire, Gretel snorted. “At least _try_ not to break him,” she said, and maybe Ben had been right, because there wasn’t anything in her voice to suggest she’d been even partway to sleep. “He is quite useful in his own way.”

“Goodnight Gretel,” Hansel said, and Gretel snorted again. Ben heard her roll over, or rather he thought he did, but he didn’t quite dare check, because Hansel was still staring down at him with a stony expression, and Ben had a notion that he wouldn’t respond well to being ignored right now. He stared back, wide-eyed, and wondered just how much he resembled a frightened rabbit.

It wasn’t a reassuring thought.

“You’re late,” Hansel said, and Ben didn’t have enough breath to actually _say_ anything; all his words were trapped behind Hansel’s forearm, so he just nodded as best he could.

“I suppose you think you’ve got a good reason,” Hansel said, and it almost sounded like a question, but Ben’d spent enough time around Hansel by now to know that he didn’t always want answers to his questions and he kept his mouth shut. Hansel gave him a searching look and then nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, “You’re right; I don’t fucking care about your reason. One rule, Ben. You leave camp at night, you’re back here an hour after sundown. No exceptions, unless you’re dead. And god help you if you _are_ dead, because then I’m going to be _especially_ pissed with you.” Hansel’s gaze raked over him and Ben did his best to stay still and look contrite under the scrutiny. Hansel snorted.

“You can’t lie for shit,” he said, “New rule. _You_ don’t leave camp on an evening without either me or Gretel to come along with. Understood?” 

Ben understood; he didn’t like it, back to being treated like a child after he’d made so much headway, but there was a storm brewing under Hansel’s expression, a tension in the arm pressed across Ben’s throat that made him think it wouldn’t be wise to push the point right now. Instead he nodded.

They could absolutely have that discussion tomorrow, once Hansel had calmed down.

Hansel nodded in reply, once, sharply and then pushed himself up and off Ben, rolling back to lay next to him. “Get your bedroll, and get some sleep,” he said, his tone more abrupt now than it had been and Ben winced. “We’ve got a long day travelling tomorrow.”

Ben opened his mouth, news about his newest discovery burning on the tip of his tongue, and then he stopped. Tomorrow would be plenty early enough to regale the tale he’d heard in the inn this evening. Morning was a much better time to talk business.

Besides, Hansel was always in a much better mood _after_ breakfast.


End file.
